Social media has become a big factor in our day to day lives -fact. Whether it is checking-in to your favourite restaurant, updating your status with a funny anecdote, or tweeting a picture of a lasagne you have just made from scratch, we use it a lot. Then there’s football. I would put money on the fact that there are people out there that would agree with the quote ‘football is not just a game; it’s a way of life’. So what has happened since these two aspects of our lives have collided? A stronger fan community has been created.
Previously it was easy to get that united feeling at games or even at your local pub if you were lucky. Now, all year round there is a committed following of fans who keep up the momentum online, with the help of their club’s social media content.
Official club social media
Both of these channels could easily turn into a competition of which club has the most followers or fans. If it did…Arsenal would be ahead of the game! Facebook and Twitter are used to keep fans up to date with news and updates from the clubs and players. They are great tools in creating a buzz in the pre-match build up and also for creating an active following during the matches themselves with a live commentary. These pages never sleep and are always one step ahead of keeping the fans in the know. The clubs that do it best in our opinion are Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City. City are brilliant for their behind the scenes content and Dortmund for their creative viral campaigns.
Blogs
There are thousands of football fan blogs flying around, such as In Bed with Maradona, Back Page Football and Zonal Marking. The ones that really catch our attention are the ones that the players write themselves. The best one: The Chelsea FC blog. Their bloggers include Juan Mata and Michael Essien and it is a brilliant insight into a footballer’s life and life playing for Chelsea. Just the simplest things such as places they have visited in London, to the general atmosphere in the club. A brilliant way to make sure fans feel like they really are a part of the club and something other clubs should really pick up on.
The Footballers
The footballers are a key part, accidentally or on purpose, to most football clubs social following, although I’m sure some clubs wished their footballers did not say half the things they do over twitter. They say all PR is good PR, but with FIFA social media guidelines flying around, this is not necessarily the case in football. Despite the controversy they cause though, they are an entertaining outlet for many to read on Facebook and Twitter, and help the fans relate to them on a more personal level. Check out Joey Barton and Rio Ferdinand for some entertaining tweets.
The long and short of it is…
Social media is about creating an online community, similarly football clubs are about being part of a community supporting one team. When the two go together it creates a very united and increasingly strong following for any football club. As long as they don’t just focus on Twitter and consider social media platforms, it is only a partnership that could continue to go from strength to strength…
